I came across this post while starting to do research for a new camera. I currently have the Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS. I have two small kids - and it takes wonderful photos in natural light. When indoors or in low-light settings, I constantly have issues with the flash, and the kids don't love posing.

I've decided that I want a new camera for Christmas (or before if I can find a good deal). Ideally, I want to spend under $200, and would love for it to fit in my pocket. I tend to ignore fancier settings, so I'd love something that is easy to use, but with minimal lag time.

I searched for the Nikon S6000, but I guess it's not the newest model. I also looked at the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH25 (mostly because it's going to be on sale for Black Friday), but I don't really know where to start, there are so many choices. Can you help with suggestions? Thanks in advance!!

Recently the camera manufacturers have been putting advanced CMOS sensors in their point and shoot cameras. These sensors can take better pictures in low light than the traditional CCD sensors. There are several cameras with CMOS sensors that are now priced under $200 - The Canon Elph 300, Canon Elph 100, Sony WX9, Canon SD4500IS and the Panasonic fx700.

Andy, I'm sorry, I posted too quickly with my first post and didn't really think through what I really need. I'm glad that there are better features with lower light, but my bigger issues are with lag time and the kids moving around and ending up blurry.

It seems that most of the cameras have a motion sensor now, so I think I can narrow those down a bit easier, but Is there a specific feature that I can look for with reference to lag time?

Is there a specific feature that I can look for with reference to lag time

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In our DCR reviews we have a performance section in which we test for shutter lag - the period of time between pressing the shutter button and taking a picture.

We do two shutter lag tests. One is done with prefocusing - pressing the shutter button down halfway to lock focus and then pressing all the way to take the picture. Almost all cameras take the picture very quickly after pressing down the shutter button. Then we test for the time between pressing down the shutter button and taking the picture without prefocusing. That time is a bit longer but the delay varies among cameras.

When I review a camera I also test how long the camera takes between shots, both with the flash off and flash on.

The cameras I recommended are all quick cameras. They have minimal shutter lag even without prefocusing and will require a delay of about 2-3 seconds between shots without the flash, a bit longer with the flash.